Windmill.



A. O. KRUEGBR.

WINDMILL.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 17, 1911.

Patented Apr. 21 1914.

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COLUMBIA PLA AUGUST C. KRUEGER, OF CAMBRIA, WISCONSIN.

WINDMILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

Application filed July 17, 1911. Serial No. 638,795.

Improvements in \Vindmills, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in wind-mills. I

The object of my invention is to provide effective means for controlling the speed of. the apparatus and relieving the same from excessive wind pressures. Also to provide improvements in structural details as hereinafter more fully set forth in the description.

In the drawings Figurel is a side elevation, part in section, of a wind-mill embodying my invention, showing but one of the sets of vanes. drawn on l1ne ac -w .of Flg. 1, and showmg the vane supporting arms and vanes in re- Fig. 3 1s a fragq lation to each other. mentary front elevation showing the controlling rod in its relation to one of the sets of vanes and a fragment of an adjacent set.

Like parts are identified by thesame reference characters throughout the several views.

The standard 1 supports a turn table 2,

which may be of any ordinary construction, This turn table is provided with an outwardly projecting arm 4 carrying a bearing member 5 fora tubular shaft 6, upon which the wind-wheel is mounted. The windwheel comprises a hub 7 rigidly connected. with the shaft 6, a series of radial arms 8 projecting outwardly from the hub, and a series of sets of vanes connected with the arms 8, as hereinafter described. A rotary motion of the wind-wheel is transmitted to a vertically reciprocating connecting rod 9, through a crank wheel 11, crank pin 12, sliding block 13, and yoke 14, the latter being secured to the upper end of the-pump rod 9 and forming a channel adapted to receive the block 13. This yoke 14 has a slot 16 in one side thereof, through which the pin 12 passes to connect the block 13 with the crank wheel 11. The yoke is .also pro-- vided with acentral vertical slot 17, adapt ed to allow a reciprocating motion of the yoke 14 past a horizontal controlling rod 20, which extends through the yoke andthrough the shaft 6. The yoke is reciprocated by the Fig, 2 is a sectional view,

crank pin 12, when the sleeve shaft 6 and crank wheel 11 are rotated. The downward movement of the crank pin 12, block 13, and yoke 14 carries the block 13 downwardly past the controlling rod 20, while said block 13 is at one end of the yoke 14 beyond the vertical slot 17. At the completion ofthe down stroke, the continued rotation of the crank wheel 11 and pin 12 carries the block 13 across the line of the vertical slot 17 to the other side of the yoke, said block being carried upwardly with the upward movement of the yoke, while on the opposite side of the rod 20 from that which it occupied on the down stroke. The block 13 is thus caused to revolve about the rod 20 in correspondence with the movement of the crank pin 12, and as the block 13 does not transmit its lateral movements to the rod 9, the latter will be caused to reciprocate in a vertical line.

The vanes 25 are arranged in sets, each The side members of this frame are provided with forwardly projecting arms 28, which are connected with oscillating rods 29, journaled in bearing members 30 mounted upon the ends of the radial arms 8 of the wind-wheel. The vanes 25 of each set, are rigidly connected to the frame 26at 31 and 32, but said frame is permitted to tilt upon the axis of the rod 29, thus permitting the vanes to assume the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, in which position the wind will have but little elfect upon them.

Owing to the fact that the sets of vanes are oifset from their pivotal supports on the radial arms 8, it is obvious that when the wind-wheel rotates, the vanes will tend to swing outwardly by centrifugal force to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and as the speed of wind-wheel rotation is determined primarily by the strength of the wind, it follows that as the wind velocity increases, the increase in velocity of the wheel will reducethe wind pressure upon the vanes, by causing the latter to swing outwardly, as above explained, to a feathering position.

To control the outwardly swinging movement of the vanes, the controlling rod 20 is connected at one end with the frames 26 by links 33. At the other end, this rod 20 projects through the yoke 14 and is connected with an upwardly projecting turn table standard by links 36 and 37. The link 36 pivotally connects the outer end of link 37 with the projecting end of rod 20. The link 37 is pivoted to the standard 35 at its upper end and is provided with an adjustable weight 40.

It will be observed that the links '32 are connected with the frames 26 within the circle described by the rods 29, and therefore, when the frames 26 swing outwardly on the axes of rods 29, they draw upon the links 32, thus causing'the controlling rod 20 to slide through the sleeve shaft 6 in the direction of the wind, (for convenience of description termed the rearward direction). This rearward movement of rod 20 pushes rearwardly on the link 36 and lifts link 37 and weight 40 to the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 1, when the vanes have moved to their dotted line position as illustrated in said figure. By adjusting the weight 40 outwardly on the link 37 the resistance to this feathering movement of the vanes is increased, and the weight 40 may thereafter be adjusted to a position calculated to hold the vanes in working position until the wind velocity becomes excessive.

It will be observed in Fig. 2 that the link rods 33 are connected with the sides of the frames 26 and two link rods 33 are employed for each frame 26. These link rods converge to the point of con nection with controlling rod 20, but the rods on opposite sides of each radial wind wheel rotates.

arm 8 are nearly parallel and are in close proximity to each other, where they are connected with rod 20. Their outer ends, however, are connected with different frames 26. I attach great importance to this arrangement of the brace rods 33, since it avoids the sagging tendency which has heretofore been found to exist in windmills of this type having but one brace rod for each set of vanes. Where but one brace rod is used, the weight of the parts causes the upper set of vanes to swing toward avertical position, while the lower set of vanes swings correspondingly toward a horizontal position and the controlling rod correspondingly with my controlling rod 20 is thereby depressed. This causes the windmill to become unbalanced and also produces a friction between the controlling rod 20 and the windwheel shaft, through which the rod 20 passes. It also produces a destructive vibration, since the rod 20 is continually bending while the I have found by experiment that where the brace rods are connected centrally with the several sets of vanes and only one brace rod is used, this sagging tendency constitutes a very serious objection and materially impairs the efficiency and durability of the mill, But by providing a plurality of brace rods for each set of vanes and pivoting them to the respective sides of the vane supporting frames, I am enabled to provide a structure in which all of the sets of vanes will be held at exactly the same angle, all unequal tilting or sagging and consequent flexion of the rod 20 being avoided.

Rollers 42 connected with the turn table 2 are preferably employed to support the rod 20 at its rear end. These rollers are preferably pulley shaped, being formed with side flanges, whereby the rod 20 is prevented from swinging laterally.

I claim 1. A windmill comprising the combination of a set of vane supporting frames having forwardly projecting frame supporting arms, a tubular shaft provided with radially extending arms, a pivot rod for each of said frames extending through said frame supporting arms and journaled in said radially extending arms, a controlling rod extending through the shaft, links connecting the front end of said rod with the respective side of each vane supporting frame between the pivot rod and the inner end of said frame, the links for adjacent sides of adjacent vane supporting frames being nearly parallel, a set of vanes mounted in each vane supporting frame and means for applying a predetermined pressure to the controlling rod.

2. A windmill, comprising the combination of a support, a wind-wheel provided with radial arms and having vanes arranged in sets, each set being mounted in a frame which is pivotally supported in a position offset from said arms, a tubular shaft for the windwheel, a controlling rod extending through the shaft, links connecting the controlling rod to each side of the inner portion of each vane carrying frame, and a weighted member arranged to be lifted by the rod, when the vanes swing outwardly on their pivotal connections with the radial arms, together with a vertically reciprocating connecting rod, a crank operatively connected with said tubular shaft, a block journaled on said crank in a position to revolve about the controlling rod, and a yoke, provided with an open ended transverse channel for said block, housed in at top, bottom and rear with the rear wall provided with a vertical slot through which the controlling rod passes, said yoke being secured to the connecting rod.

3. A windmill comprising the combination of a support, a tubular rotary shaft mounted thereon and provided at one end with a set of radial arms, a series of vane supporting frames pivotally supported from the arms, and offset therefrom along the shaft axis in a position to swing outwardly by centrifugal force, a set of vanes mounted in each vane supporting frame, a controlling rod extending through said shaft, a link controlling rod with each side of each vane 10 supporting frame.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

AUGUST 0. KRUEGER.

rod having end to end connection with the rear end of the controlling rod and extending rearwardly therefrom, an upwardly projecting arm carried by said support, a weighted link pivoted thereto at one end and having its other end connected with the rear end of said link rod to push it and the controlling rod forwardly, and a set of links arranged in pairs and connecting the front end of the Witnesses R. E. GARNER, DUDLEY DAMP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

